News 16:00

BULLETIN 19 April 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Transnet is ordered to share confidential information with Sasol amid their dispute 
# A former KPMG bursary specialist is granted 50-thousand-rand bail in a fraud case 
# And motorsport: Lando Norris is in a pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race

# The High Court in Pretoria has ordered Transnet to share confidential information with Sasol. These contain commercially sensitive information, including data on the costs, revenue and resources associated with operating its petroleum pipelines, and in particular the crude oil pipeline from Durban to Sasolburg. The documents will assist the synthetic fuel company in its bid to defend a 815-million-rand claim against it. A raft of documents must be made available to Sasol within 15 days.

# Former KPMG bursary specialist Fidelis Moema and his co-accused have been granted 50-thousand-rand bail each by the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng. They face allegations of defrauding the firm of 16.5-million-rand intended for university students from KPMG. News24 reports Moema faces an additional theft charge. Facing over 400 charges of fraud and money laundering, the trio allegedly made fraudulent transactions and laundered money through various companies. Magistrate Sharon Soko cautioned against passport applications and warned the accused against intimidating witnesses.

# Trade union Solidarity has expressed concern about the rushed finalisation of the Pension Laws Amendment Bill, introducing the two-pot system for early access to pension funds. Set to commence on 1 September, the system allows earlier access to pension funds. The union argues insufficient time has been allocated for testing and development, potentially overlooking technical aspects. Solidarity’s Marius Croucamp warns the system could jeopardise retirement fund preservation and increase tax burdens:

# Motorsport: Lando Norris secured pole position for tomorrow’s sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. Formula One is back in China for the first time in five years with a weekend that includes the first sprint race of the year. Norris set the pace in his McLaren during a wet qualifying session, ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin. Norris is hoping for more rain in Shanghai tomorrow:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-17-cents and the euro at 20-rand-45-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-89-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-271-dollars-10-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-382-dollars-26-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 86-dollars-52-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The University of the Western Cape says for many decades, land disputes have been among the significant triggers of wars across Africa and around the globe, often with devastating effects. However, a ground-breaking initiative led by a UWC student offers hope for resolving such issues. Mulabah Forkpa says his approach is deeply rooted in his vision for subsidiarity, which enables bringing land reform close to local communities while finding useful means to utilise respected customary institutions and practices. Forkpa is graduating with his LLM degree in Transnational Criminal Justice.

Stay tuned for more news………….